The Rogue Airbender
by Sasquatch097
Summary: OC Afiko is the Rogue Airbender, an assassin for hire. 300 years after Aang. My take on the world


Chapter One

Afiko

Afiko inhaled the crisp night air as he looked down over the valley of Ingatse. A weight draped his shoulders as his eyes glazed over in thought.

Eight years. He didn't expect to remember the anniversaries so vividly, but he could never forget. Each morning he awoke with visions haunting the last moments of his dreams and the first moments of the morning. They were so powerfully ingrained in his mind that it never found rest. Unless preoccupied his thoughts always inevitably turned back to his last few days in the Northern Air Temple.

As if it could shake away those dreadful cobwebs Afiko rubbed his temples and exploded to his feet. He watched the horizon as the sun slipped beyond the the mountains at the far edge of the valley. The air around him began to coalesce and spin as his grasp on his power waxed with anger.

Like a network of nerves he sensed how the air puddled around the ruined stone columns, and around the figure approaching from behind him. With his plump gate it could only be one person. An object was perched on his shoulder - the messenger hawk, Afiko realized.

"What is it Mongke?"

"A contract," the man warbled. "I know I should let you see it, but I'd advise against taking another so soon."

Afiko turned. Mongke was beefy if not very strong. His face always glowed a brilliant red, and his chubby fingers always picked at his delicate cauliflower ear. "I'm fine. Give it to me."

The man shrugged and handed Afiko a sealed scroll. As he stepped back, though, he added, "your body isn't hurt, maybe, but your pride is."

"My honor is."

"Your honor? Losing to the avatar has nothing to do with your honor. You stood your ground against him, and now he's on his deathbed!"

Afiko shook his head, clutching the scroll tight. "I failed the contract. The target is still alive, in hiding somewhere. I've never screwed up a hit so bad, Mongke. I should have investigated into the avatar's presence more thoroughly when I learned this man Dao was his political advocate."

"And what's done is done. When this Dao resurfaces you'll finish the job. My network of contacts is investigating into him."

"I'll only feel better when I separate his head from his shoulders," Afiko growled, shrugging to better feel the weight of the katana slung to his back beneath his midnight gray cloak. He unraveled the scrolled and skimmed through it. His eyebrows furrowed as he went. "Where are the maps Mongke?"

"Which one do you need?"

"Northeast Earth Kingdom."

"The target is in this region?" Mongke hummed as plodded back beneath decaying roof of the temple. Two bed rolls were slung out on the worn stone floor. A small fire rubbed warmth and light into surrounding stone statues, so worn that their faces were indistinguishable. Between the bed rolls was a large worn rucksack. Afiko glanced up as Mongke fished the proper scroll from a protective bamboo tube and spread it out close to the fire. He swept close, finger tracing over the paper. "Who's the target?"

"An Earth Kingdom Officer. He's traveling to Ba Sing Se from the Northern Air Temple," he gestured to it. "According to the contract I need to kill him before he reaches the city."

"Who's the contractor."

"The Talons."

Mongke frowned. The Talons Crime Syndicate was a large organization based out of the northwestern archipelagos. Their trade consisted mostly of opium, which they grew on their mountainous islands. Aside from minor laws impeding the sale and possession of opium, the four nations often did little to prevent the drug trade, recognizing the economic incentive. What could an Earth Kingdom Officer have, or know, that needed to be stopped from reaching the capital?

He didn't offer the observation to Afiko. While he still only a boy, the assassin was sharp and missed nothing. Mongke noticed the same doubt in his eyes, "what's the window?"

"He began to head south along the Weixi road four days ago. That puts him two days outside the city, if he's moving fast? I can reach him."

"But should you?"

Afiko lifted the scroll for Mongke to see, tapping the bottom the paper. "For that? How could I not?"

Mongke squinted at the figure etched in ink at the bottom of the scroll.

_Reward 8000_.

"That should be cause for concern, Afiko, not excitement. That's nearly double what you were paid for a King's wife!"

The boy pulled the hood masking his head further down, steeping his face in shadow. He brooded over that. Then he silently stood. After checking his weapons in their sheaths he strode toward the stairs leading down out of the ruinous temple toward the valley below.

"Afiko."

"I'll return before dawn," Afiko responded. Suddenly the wind kicked up and Afiko burst from the ledge, fists of air repeatedly punching him fast, hard, up as he cleared the nearest peak in the blink of an eye, disappearing as a speck into the sky. In a moment the air settled and Mongke was left to gaze at the horizon.


End file.
